Saturday, March 13, 2010

PDX

"If one advances confidently in the direction of one's dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet wiht a success unexpected in common hours." -Thoreau

We have been allowing ourselves to dream about what we want to do next, since things just haven't quite been working out for us. February Mark and I both started exploring other options that were beginning to interest us, and let ourselves dream about what that might look like for us. Finally a couple weeks ago, we received good news! We are headed to Portland on Saturday for a couple interviews! We'll be there Saturday through Tuesday. We'd feel a bit better if we each had at least one more interview, but if not that's okay too. We are just grateful that someone is actually interested in meeting with us!

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain

After the suggestion of a friend, Mark began exploring the possibility of working in residential treatment centers for youth. We’re excited because these type of positions seem to fit Mark a lot better than any youth ministry position we have looked at. He has not been able to find any openings here in Denver, so we decided to check out Portland. Mark emailed a connection we have there, and it turns out he had some pretty good leads for him. Mark was able to line up an interview almost immediately with Northwest Behavioral Healthcare Services, a residential treatment center for youth.

I've been exploring getting into Montessori Education, and I really think it will be a great fit for me. I have been considering going to one of the Montessori Institutes to become a teacher, but decided to look into job opportunities first. I found a posting for a position as a classroom assistant in a small Montessori school run out of a mother's home in SE Portland. It seems this would be a great opportunity to gain a significant amount of experience before seriously considering becoming a teacher. It also just so happens that she is into local/organic foods, gardening, community, yoga, etc. That made me even more excited! I emailed her and she said she’d be very interested in meeting me, so we went ahead and set up an interview when we found out about Mark’s interview.

We feel like we finally have hope that something will finally work out for us. We are trying to stay calm though, we're so afraid of setting ourselves up for disappointment. So please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

That is so exciting for you guys and your potential move to Portland! What a fun city to live in! I enjoyed your quotes in this post and hope the best for you guys in your transition. It seems like God always has a better plan for us that we have for ourselves!

The Pratt-Russum's

Two Quakers living in Portland, OR. We are lovers of nature, all things creative, books, poetry, silence and contemplation, long talks over coffee or tea, food, our golden retriever Oliver, people and life in general. This spring we will welcome our first born, Kade River, into this beautiful world. We couldn't be more excited